Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, March 1997:
Both the Declaration of Principles (1993) and the Interim Agreement (1995) state that the issue of Jerusalem will be discussed in the framework of the permanent status negotiations.... Under these agreements, the Palestinians have no standing to demand that Israel coordinate building in Jerusalem with them.
.... appeal by the PLO to the international community for intervention... is inconsistent with its explicit agreement to settle all issues under dispute directly through negotiation. This commitment is contained in the letter from the PLO Chairman to the late Prime Minister Rabin of September 9, 1993, on the eve of the signing of the Declaration of Principles, as well as in the texts of the DOP and the Interim Agreement which refer issues under dispute to the appropriate mechanisms of coordination, cooperation and conciliation between the parties, without the involvement of outside parties.
Carter would be hard to beat, but Ken Blackwell thinks Obama is even worse when it comes to Israel:
With his remarks in Jakarta, Indonesia, President Obama made history once again. Sadly, it’s a most unenviable title. I believe he is the most anti-Israel President in U.S. history.
In going to Jakarta, Indonesia, to launch his latest attack, he literally went to the ends of the earth to give voice to his displeasure. He emphasized his opposition to the policies of the elected government of Israel.
He used his Jakarta platform to complain about Israel building apartments for her growing population. Where? In Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.
To make matters even worse, Jakarta is a city no Israeli is allowed to enter! The symbolism of saying what he said in the country and city where he said it is simply atrocious.
He was in Indonesia less than 24 hours. If he had to make such a one-sided and unfair pronouncement, couldn’t he at least have waited until he got to South Korea? Touting Indonesia’s great tolerance is offensive. We love everyone here in Indonesia, except the Israelis, of course, and except Catholic school girls who get beheaded on their way to school....
Next verse same as the first. We need only to think back to March of this year:
Netanyahu was led to believe that in return for these concessions Obama would begin behaving like the credible mediator his predecessors were. But instead of acting like his predecessors, Obama has behaved like the Palestinians. Rather than reward Netanyahu for taking a risk for peace, Obama has, in the model of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, pocketed Netanyahu’s concessions and escalated his demands. This is not the behavior of a mediator. This is the behavior of an adversary.
AfterWords
George Will on Netanyahu, the anti-Obama:
... a display case in Netanyahu's office could teach the Obama administration something about this leader. It contains a small signet stone that was part of a ring found near the Western Wall. It is about 2,800 years old -- 200 years younger than Jerusalem's role as the Jewish people's capital. The ring was the seal of a Jewish official, whose name is inscribed on it: Netanyahu.
No one is less a transnational progressive, less a post-nationalist, than Binyamin Netanyahu, whose first name is that of a son of Jacob, who lived perhaps 4,000 years ago. Netanyahu, whom no one ever called cuddly, once said to a U.S. diplomat 10 words that should warn U.S. policymakers who hope to make Netanyahu malleable:
"You live in Chevy Chase. Don't play with our future."
Posted by: Mannie Sherberg | Friday, 12 November 2010 at 11:54 AM